Campaign Against Impunity

Impunity Spotlight

"As we approach the 12th anniversary of the cold, brutal, chilling and calculated killing [of Deyda Hydara], we as a family continue to endure the devastation and anguish of impunity."--Marie Hydara, the daughter of murdered journalist Deyda Hydara.

Twelve years ago popular editor and columnist Deyda Hydara was driving home after celebrating the anniversary of his newspaper's founding when assailants shot him. No one has ever been held to account for the murder of Hydara, a known critic of the administration of outgoing President Yahya Jammeh . In 2014, the Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice ruled that Gambia failed to investigate Hydara's murder and called for authorities to reopen a probe. Despite its membership to the regional body, Gambia has not complied with the verdict.

After decades in power, during which time journalists were routinely intimidated through violence and imprisonment, Jammeh's administration was voted out in December 2016. Join us in urging Gambia's president-elect, Adama Barrow, to prioritize justice for Hydara and other journalists and to honor Gambia's commitments to ECOWAS.

From Brazil to Pakistan, Russia to India, CPJ names the countries where journalists are regularly murdered and the killers go unpunished. The Index calculates the number of unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of each country's population.
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From Colombia to Somalia, organizations around the world work to end impunity. Responding to our voices, the U.N. General Assembly established November 2 as the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists. Learn more about how the global response to impunity and what you can do November 2.
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Despite increased international attention to the murders of journalists, governments fail to take action to reduce the high rates of targeted violence and impunity, the Committee to Protect Journalists finds. In the past 10 years, 370 journalists were murdered; in 90 percent of cases, there are no convictions. The unchecked, unsolved murders of journalists is one of the greatest threats to press freedom today.
• What's Inside
• CPJ's Recommendations
• Slideshow: Seeking the Mastermind